Andy Roddick, still apparently suffering the energy-draining after-effects of mono, in addition to a bout of foot faulting, crashed out of the US Open in the feature match on Wednesday night, losing to tattooed, sunglasses-at-night-wearing Serb Janko “Tipsy” Tipsarevic 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(4).

“I was trying [early] too much from positions on the court I should have been playing,” said Tipsarevic, who has been struggling with ankle injuries this summer. “I was out for three weeks so apparently I taped them too strong, but at the end everything worked well.”

Roddick frequently fought with linespeople and the chair umpire over foot fault calls during the match, and quickly left the court following his loss, tossing racquets into the crowd as he walked to the tunnel.

“It wasn’t necessarily the best tennis, but tricky conditions out there,” Murray said. “It was very windy on the court. It was a guy I’ve never played against on the tour. I haven’t really seen much of him play, so took a little time to get used to his game. But I did enough to win in straight sets, and that was the most important thing.”

American qualifier Ryan Harrison had the ‘Where’s the next great American?’ critics’ tongues wagging after a four-set win over No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic.

“To win on this stage here and to take out a Top 20 player in the world is the biggest win of my career,” Harrison said. “I’ve always believed in myself. I have always had confidence in myself, so obviously I’m extremely excited and really pleased with what happened…Absolutely I want to be that guy [the next American star]. I have a ways to go. I’ve qualified and still have a ways to go to get there, but I’m definitely working has hard as I can. I’m really putting all the work in.”

Harrison also struggled to keep his temper in check at times during the match, on occasion letting the racquet fly.

“I usually do show a lot of emotion,” Harrison said. “I can usually get pretty fired up…You don’t want to get extremely fired-up early and start getting to a point where you’re stressing yourself out and burn off nervous energy that you don’t need to burn off. So at that point, I just tried to, you know, pick the right moments.”

The American “B”-squad seeds were also successful Wednesday, as No. 18 John Isner defeated Federico Gil in straights, and No. 20 Sam Querrey quelled a challenge from fellow American Bradley Klahn in four sets.

Querrey tattooed Klahn in the gnads during their match for good measure.

“That was an accident,” Querrey said. “I mean, he hit a dropshot, and I ran up there and it was kind of better than I thought. So I kind of got a little confused where I was going to hit it. I kind of went at him. I didn’t mean to hit it there. I felt bad because he’s my buddy.”

Querrey will next play Spain’s Marcel “Granola” Granollers. Harrison will next face the Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky, the champion last week at New Haven, who came from a set down to defeat Aussie Peter Luczak on Wednesday.

Janko is an interesting player to watch. He constructs points and has the nerve to go for shots when the timing is right during a point. I think Andy made the mistake (maybe it was the mono) of letting Janko get his teeth into points and set things up too often. Dictating play might prevent Janko from hitting the ball hard when he wants to hit it.

“… And the badgering continued, with Roddick staring down the lineswoman, appealing to the chair umpire and ranting at no one in particular, “Why don’t you get some umpires who know what they’re doing!” and “They should call 1-800-Rent-a-Ref.”

Roddick ended up losing the set, falling behind two sets to one. During the changeover, the lineswoman left the court, presumably at the chair umpire’s suggestion.”

I knew it. Apparently sick (in the head for sure)and “lines-people robed” Andy R. loses to some guy with a lot of tattoos and glasses (not for your kicks). Staff, do you know how much those couple of intentional foot faults(desperate try by A.R. to turn the game around)had to do with the overall outcome of this match? About the same as Janko’s tattoos. Next time when the top American gun loses to someone, try to be fair and give some credit to the better player in that match. By the way its “Tipsa” not Tipsy.

Roddick is a bully and an idiot. It doesn’t make any difference whether the lines judge noticed whether it was his left foot or his right foot that touched the service line. He was just trying to humiliate someone who is volunteering her services and who would probably lose her position if she told Roddick where to go. Every match he tries to bully the chair umpire and/ or the linespeople. He’s a nasty elitist. In a perfect world, he would be guillotined and the linespeople would play soccer with his head.

Seems that Roddick is taking over mcenroe on the tennis court, judging by what richard vach reported here in 2008.

“Has anything changed?” said opponent MaliVai Washington. “I guess he has one of those explosive personalities, you could say. There are a lot of things I can deal with, disputed line calls, stoppage in play. I have an issue when my opponent starts berating people, fans, and umpires. I said something to the official. As players, we are in control of the match.

Permit me a rather morbid analogy, but what happened to Berdych today resembled what happened to the Aztecs when the Spanish explorers invaded. They were exposed to new diseases. Because they had never encountered those diseases they had no immunity, no defense against them, so they were devastated.

Because serve-and-volleyers are so rare, Berdych had never encountered them before and never had a chance to develop an immunity. That’s why he was beaten so quickly.

His game is powerful but narrow. Llodra was able to tie him up and force him to run and dig for low balls and hit passing shots, none of which are his strength. In short, he was able to exploit all of Berdych’s weaknesses while preventing Berdych from using his strengths. Berdych was trying to fight an old-school player with his modern-day methods, which were unsuited to the task.

This is why the tall power players will never dominate totally. There will always be weaknesses a clever player, with greater variety of shots, can exploit.

We remember the Petzschner of Wimbledon. If he were to be that inspired today, Nole has hands full. Even with Andy gone, his quarter is still besieged with mines. The Cocaine Kisser can not escape the kiss of death today. Davy is too good a robot. With Andy gone, attention will shift to the other Americans. Harrison appears to be the Futures and Derivative to indulge in. Can he set up an appointment with Rafa? His duel with the hot Ukranian will be more engaging than that with Lopez, should he pass the Ukranian test.

I don’t think anybody is arguing that they will totally dominate, but you can’t dismiss that FACT that players have gotten considerably taller and stronger over the years.

The best example of a power player imho is Delpo. Would he have beaten Llodra? Absolutely, and in straights too.

You see, not all tall power players are created equal. Is Delpo’s forehand like that of Soderling? Delpo’s is a lot more technically sound, so he tends to miss a lot less even though he hits it harder than Soderling, whereas Soderling chicken-wing forehand could not be more technically flawed, which is why he tends to miss every fourth forehand during a rally.

We have seen what power tennis can do at last year’s Open. I was watching the Delpo-Rafa semi replay the other day. It was a demolition job. I’ve never seen Rafa toyed with so thoroughly as he was in that match. In the final, Delpo just over powered Fed in the last two sets. Granted that Fed let the match slip and he served more DFs than I’ve ever seen him do and he had back problems, but the success of Berdych and Gulbis against him this year shows that it’s a pretty effective game against him even though he has every shot in the book (and some that aren’t).

I didn’t see the Roddick match (past my bedtime) but I see he had another of his tantrums. And to think people complain about Murray’s behavior! His outbursts are directed at himself, not at the officials. Agassi once said it was tough to do your growing up in public. It’s tough for everyone, watching Roddick FAIL to grow up.

Keep in mind Federer is 29 years old. He has always had trouble with big hitters (Safin, AO ’05). It’s not a new phenomenon, but now it’s more pronounced since he has lost a bit of speed and power.

I am well aware of how special Del Potro is (being a fan), and have pointed out his specialness on many occasions.

But have you forgotten that Federer beat Del Potro 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 at last year’s AO? He did some of the same things Llodra did, and about ten thousand things that Llodra could never dream of doing. Result: double bagel.

Federer made stupid mistakes in the USO final last year and started hitting with Del Potro instead of outfoxing him; even so, Del Potro busted his wrist hitting his way to victory, and he’s taking a long time to recover, sadly.

Nadal has no defense against someone who can hit so powerfully and accurately for five sets; if he tries to grind down Del Potro from the baseline he will find himself being ground down.

Federer is a completely different story. He has one of the most versatile games ever, and he has proved this by overcoming every conceivable type, style, variation, and iteration of player to make it to the semis of every Grand Slam for five straight years. If anyone can come up with a game plan to beat a power baseliner of Del Potro’s caliber, it’s he.

Also Del Potro has never beaten Murray on a hard court, and very possibly never will (much as I would like him to). It’s because Murray can exploit his relative lack of movement, and he uses lots of soft shots and off-pace balls to throw Del Potro’s rhythm.

So there are weaknesses even in Del Potro’s game. It simply takes a higher caliber of player to exploit them. What Llodra cannot do, Federer or Murray or Cilic can. Or someone we have yet to see.

Considering you didn’t see the match, how could it be tough on you to watch? Anyway, just join the long list of bashers as it’s the fun thing to do, when it concerns Roddick. He’s American isn’t he?

Further, Per Super Man, stop doing the Dr. Phil routine, as I don’t think most who post on these blogs are the proud holders of a degree in psychololgy, and are qualified to make such diagnoses.

Furthermore, the posters who condemn Murray are NOT the Roddick fans — the majority have left this site due to the constant bashing. And, whether the anger is self-directed or towards anyone else, it’s still there for all to see. It’s pretty gross to watch someone inflict wounds on themselves, and for the fans to have to watch the bloodied spectacle of hands with blood dripping all over the place.

There’s a saying, those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Every player on the tour has behavioural problems, and they all engage in tantrums. Let he who is without blemsh, cast the first stone.

Gosh this is tiring!

That said, how can you condemn Roddick and rationalize Murray’s self-inflicted wounds? Both are wrong. Ask any psychiatrist which is worse, someone venting and/or fighting for what they believe to be their rights, or someone who inflicts wounds on themselves because their anger is out of control. I think the Psychologists would say, the latter, is the more destructive act.

And, for the record, if Murray didn’t likke the heat, why iks he living in Miami Florida, where the heat/temp;eratures solar in the summer mon ths.

Interesting how you put Cilic in the same category as Federer or Murray. Some would say Cilic is a typical example of how tennis has become all about height and power.

Delpo of AO 2009 is not the Delpo of RG 2009 is not the Delpo of USO 2009. You can literally see his progress as the season went by. Fed doubled bageled him in Australia. After that Delpo won the biggest match of his career yet beating Rafa in Miami. Then he gets beaten in straight sets by Fed in the Madrid semi, Fed barely breaking sweat there. Then he manages to hold serve against Fed for three and a half sets at the RG semi. Fed barely survived that one, and I kinda think he won it through sheer will power considering that Rafa would not be there in the final and it was Fed’s golden shot at the title.

In the US Open final, Fed did some regrettable decisions that he payed for, but except for the first set, Delpo was going toe-to-toe with him.

It’s interesting how you put players who put an emphasis on versatility above those who emphasize power. I mean, pretty much everyone agrees that Murray is yet to win a slam precisely because he gets overpowered by the bigger hitters, and Delpo will surely beat him one day.

IMHO, it’s all about balance: power vs. versatility. Fed strikes the perfect balance, whereas Murray can use a little bit more power and Cilic, Berdych, Delpo can use more versatility. But if you have to choose one or the other, in today’s game, I’d go with power. I’d gladly have Cilic’s or Berdych’s game over Murray’s any day of the week. Murray may be more interesting to watch, but I find watching Delpo or Gonzalez punish the ball thoroughly entertaining.

To be honest, I don’t think it’s about power as much it is about having a great forehand. I don’t care how terriffic any player’s backhand can get, the forehand is the single most important shot in tennis today. In the the 90s, it was the serve. But now, it’s the forehand. Look at Rafa, his serve is good but it’s not THAT good, yet he has 8 slams. Murray’s serve, especially his 1st is a lot better than Rafa’s, but he has no slams. Fed has a great serve and a great forehand, hence 16 slams. Delpo has a great serve and a great forehand, so he won his maiden slam final against a 15 time slam champ.

it’s amazing that federer seems to be the only one aging? yet llodra is older than federer, next birthday he is 31, and he was able to outfox berdych, some 6 years younger – with the serve and volley game – the game that federer had in abundance in 2001 and is gaining in momentum once again since working with annacone.

It’s got nothing to do with age! for the millionth time!

Speed and placement – which is what federer is ALL ABOUT, whether he is 19, 24 or 29. The man has variety in his game.

Berdych, whilst being powerful and building up his reputation with the other players, does NOT have that variety in his game.

Llodra has always been described as a ‘quirky’ player, he plays ‘old style’ and berdych was unprepared for that. Thinking that just hitting the ball with power left, right and centre would do the trick.

Llodra had other ideas, and what a pleasure it was to see a mind game in full capacity outwit a power game.

First Fed – never underestimate what a good coach brings to Federer’s camp. Paul Annacone probably has packaged yesterday’s Llodra victory over Berdych and will make it part of the required viewing for Fed when he gets him in his classroom next. :)

Now Roddick – I find the man a complete enigma. How can someone who is so personable off the court turn into such a petulant monster on the court? There is no excuse for any player to constantly be so beligerant towards the officials and line callers. As Colin says, Murray acts out too, but at himself; he doesn’t try to intimidate the officials because he is playing below his expected level of play. There is a strange switch in Roddick’s head, and he sure turns ugly shen it is turned on. Very unfortunate.

Djokovic – for a guy everyone is saying has no heart he showed a lot of it battling back in his first round match. However, there may be a landmine in the shape of Peter Polansky, should the Canadian upset James Blake today. Polansky beat Monaco in the first round in straight sets and upset Melzer in Toronto last month and is gaining confidence. He has a game that can troble Djokovic, as evidenced by last year’s Rogers Cup in Montreal, where Djokovic won by a 6-4,7-6(6)score, in a match Polansky said he was awestruck just being in. If Polansky upsets Blake today hold onto your horses for the next round.

I didn’t want to comment on the Roddick situation initially, but here’s my two cents:

First of all, kudos for not pulling a Serena. EVERYONE had flashbacks of last year when Roddick started addressing the judge for a footfault.

Second of all, I think it is normal in any sport to vent your frustration on an umpire or a ref or a judge, as long as it doesn’t go overboard.

Last night, imo, Roddick didn’t go overboard, but Roddick has trouble pulling away from a fight. He can go on and on for 10 minutes talking about what he thinks is a mistake the judge made. I mean, a comment or two is fine, but just going on and on and on is not. I mean, what’s the point?

And Gordo is right, Roddick is a completely different person when he’s addressing jounalists in a press conference.

So now Roddick’s a petulant monster, eh Gordo? WOW, you guys are really going overboard with your comments. How do you know that Roddick is not just venting? What makes you so sure that he’s trying to intimidate the officials?

Kimo: At least your comment is fair. I also don’t feel Roddick went overboard. He did get a foot fault and he asked the umpire which foot. The umpire,stated it was the right foot. Roddick then said, in all of his life he’s never had a foot fault with his right foot, and that was the argument. Others have turned it into him berating an innocent lineswoman non-stop. I suppose no one saw the call where Roddick hit the ball on the line, but had to replay the point because of the lineswoman’s error. Tipsy replayed the point, which Roddick lost. That added to Andy’s anger.

BTW, aren’t there many players who are absolute monsters on the court, and are nice off the court? So what’s wrong if Roddick does similarly.

Del Potro did get more confident, but you can’t just dismiss the result as a fluke. Federer simply played a perfect match at AO, there wasn’t much Del Potro could have done to get into it.

At Roland Garros Del Potro had more time to set up his groundstrokes because of the slow clay, and the ball bouncing higher helped him drive his forehand more easily. So Del Potro was outhitting Federer for three sets.

Federer responded by mixing it up constantly, using the drop shot and shorter slices, to move Del Potro around the court and force him off the baseline. Eventually Del Potro lost a little confidence from the baseline as a result, and Federer managed to break him and keep him under control for the rest of the match.

You could see a certain pattern when Federer played Soderling at USO last year. For two sets he had Soderling tied in knots, mixing up his game and giving his opponent nothing to hit with. Just like he did against Del Potro at AO.

Then he went away from his game plan, and got into a hitting contest. Soderling came back into it, won the fourth set, and almost took it to a fifth. Federer escaped, but it was a preview of what would ultimately happen in the final.

After that, Federer did not beat a power hitter until his recent victory over Berdych. He lost to Del Potro twice, Soderling twice (once in exhibition), Berdych twice. In each encounter he seemed to play aimlessly, sometimes trying to outhit his opponent, other times trying different tactics. He showed very muddled thinking, which is why he lost.

But he has clearly realized he needed to add more to his game, and he’s brought in outside help, so I think he will be OK. Beating Berdych helped his confidence.

You mentioned Cilic. In my opinion, Cilic is more like an all-court player than a power baseliner. He doesn’t hit as hard as Del Potro, but he is a wonderful volleyer and is a lot more comfortable with handling weird slices and spins. He’s a very cerebral, tactical player. Unfortunately that also results in meltdowns.

Unlike Del Potro, Berdych, and Soderling, he’s not very good on clay. But he is quite good on grass, and unlike Del Potro, he’s much more capable against someone like Murray on a hard court. If he ever gets some consistency he’ll be very hard to beat on those surfaces.

“Delpo will surely beat him one day.”

I hope so, but I rather doubt it, unless Murray is off his game. Del Potro just cannot cope with the weird mix of spins that Murray uses. It’s a poor matchup for him.

On clay it will be Del Potro ten times out of ten, on hard courts Murray 99 times out of a hundred, and on grass Murray ten times out of ten.

the best height is probably just over 6 ft. tall enough to have power, big serve, small enough to still maintain agility/coordination and excel at defense. that’s why most of the top guys fit this category.

you can’t have great defense when you’re big and that’s a huge part of a top players game – federer,nadal etc.

when players get too big it starts to become a disadvantage overall even though they have more powerful serve,strokes.

basically when a player is too small, they lack offense and when they’re too big they lack defense and so it’s good to be just right.

so it’s not good to be as tall as potro or berdych and likewise it’s not good to be as small as davydenko, but these players overcome their weaknesses pretty well. but i bet they’d all rather be eye to eye with federer and nadal.

also as for roddick, it’s easy for someone to be charming and friendly when everything is going great. you find out what people are really like when the going gets tough.
i remember everyone thought hingis was a great sport and all round awesome girl until the french open tantrum…and then the cocaine…

“Every player on the tour has behavioural problems, and they all engage in tantrums. Let he who is without blemsh, cast the first stone.”

I don’t think truer words have ever been said regarding the sport of tennis. When I was in New Haven last week, what I found most…amazing?… was that every single player was “crazy.” Every match featured both guys bouncing their rackets, yelling at themselves, arguing with the ump/line judges, yelling at their coaches, yelling at fans, you name it they did it. And it wasn’t just a few guys, it was every single player (even Tommy Robredo). It’s just the way it goes. And a lot of these guys are incredibly friendly off the court.

During one of my encounters with Temuraz Gabashvili, I made sure to ask him what Roddick is like. He said he’s a good guy with bad on-court behavior. I should’ve followed up that question with “relative to who” because I don’t know if he meant he’s bad in general or worse than everyone else. It’s hard to judge him just from a TV screen (I can’t really explain the difference here) but it seems to me the only difference between Roddick and the other guys is that he’s clever when he gets mad. I’ve always enjoyed his rants because he always busts out a few incredible lines.

Last night, I’m not sure Roddick was as mad as he lead on. He continued to complain about the foot fault for GAMES after it happened. It was almost fortunate for him because the adrenaline really started pumping and he started playing some great tennis. Once he settled down, his energy level dropped back and Tipsarevic continued his assault. So I think that Roddick was just trying to pump himself up, even though it may not have been the prettiest way to do it as far as, apparently, a lot of people are concerned.

In the end, though, Roddick was right to tear these linesmen new ones. He never denied foot-faulting (as far as I heard) but it is simply impossible for Roddick to foot-fault with his right leg. It’s almost funny how dumb the woman’s reply was when he asked which foot. And then to add insult to injury, he challenges a ball that was embarassingly inside. Does anyone know if the linesmen have to undergo some sort of eye exam? Because they should undergo a vigorous one.

Ben, no, Roddick was not right! The woman just misspoke, meaning the foot on her right – that is, Roddick’s left. After that she did not engage in arguing with Roddick, as indeed she shouldn’t and couldn’t – the linespeople are not supposed to talk to the players, only the umpire. I really felt bad for her having to sit there with a slight smile and Roddick unloading on her. She could not defend her (correct!) call and it was very unsettling since I hate bullying and Roddick was doing just that: bullying a person who could not really defend herself.
Now, granted, he was pumped and upset and it did help his game after all, so, a lot of his behavior is kinda excusable, especially in such an emotional state. But if I were the umpire, I’d tell him to shut up and stop bullying the poor woman.
Re: eye exams, are you kidding? I thought you’ve been around tennis for enough time to realize that bad calls are part of the game and there are no perfect linespeople. It is true of sports in general: umpires and referees make bad calls ALL the time. Sometimes a ball that is “embarassingly inside” does not look like it when served at over 200km/h and in real time. I just love armchair warriors like you who see the replay and start dissing linespeople’s vision.

Peter, you act like I’ve never seen a live tennis match before. The line judges make terrible calls too often, sometimes. It’s more prevalent on the outside courts, where the linesmen just look around the place aimlessly. Then they make a stupid call and when the player asks “where are you looking?” they can’t say “around.” So if bad calls happen all the time, why not give eye exams? Why hire the oldest people on the planet who obviously have more trouble seeing 130mph serves than someone significantly younger would? What about when the ball floats out? And no one makes any kind of call. How do you explain that?

Roddick did not cross the limit. He wasn’t find, not that fine only proves whether a player is guilty. Lines person was not only right in the literal sense, but also quite sensible to have called it on the first serve. Just imagine the scenario if this had happened on the second serve. If one has to go by the controversy of left vs. right foot, benefit of doubt goes to Roddick. Foot faults are so rare that a player does not become habitual to it and therefore the tolerance level is rather low. Perhaps there could have been more foot faults in the game than the ones called, and that would give a notion that subjectivity comes into play. One person may call it so, another may chose not to call it. The server does not see it with his own eyes, so it rests entirely with his belief in the decision making process of the lines person. If a doubt arises, as with the controversy of right vs. left, a difference of opinion will not be unexpected. It appears that we should not judge Roddick on the basis of this incident alone.

Kimo says:” I was watching the Delpo-Rafa semi replay the other day. It was a demolition job. I’ve never seen Rafa toyed with so thoroughly as he was in that match. In the final, Delpo just over powered Fed in the last two sets. Granted that Fed let the match slip and he served more DFs than I’ve ever seen him do and he had back problems”

Surely you shouldn’t bring up Fed’s back issue as an explanatory factor in his defeat whilst at same time bring up the demolition of Nadal without mentioning his abdominal tear (short term, probably much more incapacitating, even if back problems are always a long term worry). The fact is, we don’t know how a fully fit Nadal would deal with DelPo in New York, and it’s a real shame we can’t find out this year.

“Del Potro just cannot cope with the weird mix of spins that Murray uses. It’s a poor matchup for him.” (Steve) I’m not so sure. The year before last, del Potro gave Murray a helluva battle before succombing to complete exhaustion – he’d hardly had a rest in the post-Wimbie hard court season, and in New York had tough matches with Cannas, Belluci and especially Simon prior to meeting Murray. I think del Potro singing will be a nightmare for just about anyone.

madmax – “it has nothing to do with age!” Nothing? Because someone who is older than Federer beat Berdych? Sorry, I don’t get the connection.

Ben, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Is there any evidence to support your claim that linespeople are mostly old folks that have trouble with their vision? Can you show it?
For example, yesterday the two commentators on the Roddick/Tipsy match (on the US Open Live stream, Luke Jensen and some other guy whose name I don’t recall) were actually talking about how experienced the linespeople are, how they travel around the world and attend a lot of matches. I also heard them talking about how few bad calls there have been this Open so far. So, they seem to contradict your claim.
You say “to add insult to injury” about the ball that was challenged and found in. But there was no injury to begin with! The lineswoman was right about the foot fault! So, you’re just biased in your perception, that’s all.
That said, since linespeople will continue to make bad calls, no matter how many eye exams one gives them, I think, if technology is there, we should do away with linespeople altogether (Federer’s objections notwithstanding) and rely on precise HawkEye-type calls for EVERY ball, in REAL TIME, so that no one would need challenges at all. If the ball is out the bell will ring automatically that very second and the play will stop.
Same goes for other sports – the human error factor should be taken out or at least minimized as much as possible. I still don’t understand why in soccer, for example, they won’t allow referees to watch replays. I hope this will change after the many really disastrous calls in the last World Cup.

Biased about tennis linesmen? Write to the ATP and ask them to put an age limit and a eye exam, and give them a paid annual salary. The lady made the correct call, he FOOT FAULTED. Watch the replay.

I don’t agree with with the knock on lines judges. And how many times have the players challenged there calls and LOST? So who are we gonna be baised towards whom for what?

There human, eventually they are gonna make bad calls ( I don’t believe she did ), overall they do a great job. If you ( or the ATP tour pros ) until want to pay linesjudges and make it a profession they make a living off don’t knock ‘em.

Look, in football, basketball, baseball, the SAME things happen, they make bad calls now and then, and it’s a PAID profession they make a living off….

“And how many times have the players challenged there calls and LOST? So who are we gonna be baised towards whom for what?”

Exactly! The usual erroneous perception that a sandwich always falls on the buttered side. To really judge the quality of line calls one needs to take into account all the times the linespeople make the right call.

First of all you should be more concerned about the classiness of your fave Nadal instead of complaining about the so-called classlessness of Federer/Roddick. Were not you out in full force blasting Fed for him merely statin that as he’d won two/three slams per year quite a few times, he has a chance to win 20 slams? You even tried depicting Fed as some delusional Fed-fan or something to that effect, no?

Actually these tricks of some Nadal fans to malign Fed and his peers like Rod and at the same time glorifying Nadal and his peers like Murray, be it for their game or for their behaviour, has already become an outdated thing, you know. So stop trying these old tricks for goodness’ sake.

I don’t think Roddick behaved like a monster yesterday. He was angry, that’s all, but far from what the demonisers are making him out to be. And he’s not an ungracious loser by any means. His interview was also good and he wished good to Tipsy. What more do you want him to do? Some of you need to cut Roddick some slack as you readily do to some of the perceived saints playing on tour ATP.

Wishing Roddick all the best to bounce back stronger.

Moreover can’t agree more with Ben and Mrs.Von than when they say:
“Every player on the tour has behavioural problems, and they all engage in tantrums. Let he who is without blemsh, cast the first stone.”
SO TRUE!

No, Fed is not classless. Fed and Rod are emotional human beings, that too really good and honest ones, that’s why they’ve become soft targets for people like guy. Too bad some fail to appreciate these two.

Let me make it clear – Roddick is the exception to a rule, but for me it is personal.

If you were to ask me which ATP players I would want to go out on the town with, or have lunch with, or have a beer with and get to know better, Roddick would be at the the top of my list. The man seems genuine, caring, smart, witty and is a perfect ambassador for the sport…

until he puts on his poor sportsman’s hat, as he did last night. He does this over and over again. And why? I’m sure his sponsors must wince as well.

Is it as bad as Connors or McEnroe used to be? No. But they never had the great personality that Roddick seems to. I’m just saying his behaviour is out of place compared to his normal demeanour.

Someone here said all players are emotional and crazy and I have to agree with that- to a point. I have watched endless tennis, on TV, at the US Open, Canada Open, Madrid Masters…and so on. And the truth is- some players are very rude to the ball boys, the linespeople, and the chair ump. And some players are very polite to the ball boys and linespeople and chair (Venus comes to mind). Roddick is always so gracious to the other players- he gives a great handshake, win or lose. But the way he treats the chair- if my son behaved that way, he’d be grounded for a month. And that is why my son doesn’t behave that way- ever.

lol, I like the honesty, and the cat pee, ha. Had the something happen to my car ( left the window open overnight ) and I thought the smell came from inside the car ( obviously ) but when I finally found it it was under the hood in by the engine! This is why I have a dog, cats are too sneaky,,,,,,don’t like things that are sneaky :), just me

Two of my four cats died this past year- they were seventeen—but in the last years of their lives, they peed everywhere EXCEPT the four litter boxes I had. It was actually really, really awful. My house still smells.

I can’t even remember what the original post was, but I think it had something to do with age – and everyone’s wife keeps going on about federer and age. As if for the rest of the guys, they stand still, because of course, they all have time machines.

I really dont buy into the argument about age – that was my point (which I hadn’t originally made).

I just spent a few minutes trying to find a post that I wrote a few weeks ago now, when I was having this conversation with Ben, and so rather than rehashing the whole lot, I’ve just found it and I am going to repost it here – you may have read it a few weeks ago, you may not have – it does back up my point about age – you’ll probably disagree with it grendel, and honestly, that’s fine. I just wish people would stop talking about age.

I related the topic ‘age’ (now look at me!!!!), to some athletes that were participating in the European games, which I think was around 3-4 weeks ago –

I’m going to look at the 10K, because of the magic number 29 for a male. Now there were plenty athletes yesterday competing in many of the track events, ranging from 18 years old through to the oldest, who I think was 39, (amazing).
So, I don’t think that Fed has reached his peak, Ben! I really don’t. I think he is going to peak at 29, or certainly have another flush of “peakness”. A second peak, then perhaps a third.

Paula,

that’s awful. I love cats too.

well, I think Fed is about to start and so, c’mon Fed! Let’s take it one match at a time – and really good luck.

Roddick may use poor behavior to pump himself up but it also quite often throws his opponent off his game. The ultimate in gamesmanship. I’m amazed that Jarko was able to keep his head last night between Andy’s antics and the crowd clearly in Roddicks favor. It’s a shame that people continue to make excuses for Andy. I think that’s what enables him to act like a chump (not champ) on the court. I watch tennis ALOT, and no one instigates arguements on the court nearly as often Andy R.

MTOs and histrionics for two hours on court throws the opponent off his game a lot more than having a go at the umpire. That’s the ultimate in gamesmanship.

With histrionics the opponent can’t concentrate as he’s constantly watching the player’s negative behaviour and is lured into a false sense of thinking that the guy will soon fold and/or retire. Then out of nowhere he’s surprised by a flurry of shots that takes him out of his playing mode, and renders his serve broken.

For someone who can’t even handle an observation about her fave, there sure is a lot for you to say about another player.

I watch tennis a lot also, and I think nothing’s more disruptive than histrionics and MTOs.

Gordo: I get what you’re saying, and it’s all OK..
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What amazes most in this Roddick situation with the lineswoman, is that each poster has a bit more to add on what the previous one stated. The embellishments are humorous. It’s a typical case of each one trying to outdo the other on how much more they can make the situation sound more sensational. LOOL. Their imaginations seem to run amock. LOOOL

“However the officials are addressed, or occasionally cursed, McEnroe made a point of saying that the overall professionalism of line umpires has improved drastically in the last couple of decades. “You go back and look at the films of the Open in the ’70s — it was like they brought in these people from the street,” he said.
These days, line umpires come from across the country and from abroad, part of a transient subculture of tennis lovers who are willing to jet around the world and work for a daily wage that at the Open averages about $150 — about the cost of a decent racket — give or take a few dollars, depending on their certification level. “

Only thing is that it is so sad that those who take every chance to take a dig at Roddick forget themselves as to how much antics and gamemanship their own faves do to throw off the opponents, not to mention the bullying. Sorry, but had to open my mouth looking at how Roddick’s being blasted left,right and centre! They see no fault in their own faves and try to silence others’ voice if there’s the slightest difference of opinion from them with respect to their faves and that includes arrogantly telling others to grow up! Too bad! :/

By the way, what about instilling fear in the umpires so as to not let them discharge their duties freely? What about threatening to take the matter to the officials midway of a match on being warned for stuff? Is that not bullying? Gimme a break!

Huh: Thanks. it’s the ones who are aware that their faves are guilty of much worse than Roddick that are spewing their venom. they are the ones that are obsessive and hateful but they turn the tables. OY

I’m just sick of the whole thing, and I wish Roddick had retired instead of sticking it out, and/or skipped the USO entirely. BTW, no one’s talking about the bad call Andy got whch made him have to replay the point, even though the ball was in. They selectively see what they want to see.

I can’t believe this has gotten so sensationalized. Now I’m being told I’m obsessive and hateful by one who’s all that and more. LOL

Von, Ben Pronin did mention that bad call.
I don’t think most of the people “spew their venom”. Most say that Roddick is a very nice guy who gets sometimes a second personality during a match, behaving childishly and so unlike himself under normal circumstances. I think this is very fair.

When did Nadal get his abdominal tear? Was it after or before the Gonzalez match? Obviously if it was before, then unless it somehow dramatically worsened, this must change how one views the situation. At any rate, I think delPo certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt against Nadal, but it is a pity we can’t see the issue properly tested this fortnight.

Peter: I don’t know about Ben, he vacillates as the tide turns. He forgets his past transgressions and how much he used to war with other posters; now he’s a saint and I’m determined to be an obsessive and hateful person. OY VEY. That said, let’s leave Ben out of this topic, as I’m not interested in anything Ben has to say henceforth, good or bad, with respect to Roddick. He blasted me a few months ago, because I had the chutzpah to ask one of his now favourite Joker fans for clarification on what she said. The two used to fight a lot when Ben was a Fed fan, but now he’s wearing a different hat, he championed her cause and blasted me in the worst way.

From what I’ve seen written here, and it’s coming from most of the Djokovic fans, they can’t wait to get their fangs into Roddick, because there’s bad blood between those two since the 2008 USO. There’s one poster, who changes his name constantly, who just enjoys posting links pertaining to Roddick. I think he’s a coward because he doesn’t have the courage to use his original post name while doing his dirty deeds of posting derogatory links.

I’ll be the first to agree that sometimes Andy gets carried away, and I’ve said that many times in the past, but he’s been burnt badly by a lot of bad calls, and when that happens, one reaches a saturation point. Andy, used to be a very sweet young man, but I suppose he had to learn the hard way that sweetness doesn’t work in the sports-world. What gets to him is the unintelligent answers the umpires give when he asks a question. Smart people don’t have patience for unintelligent answers. Don’t ask me how I know this, LOL.

I disagree, with you that “most people say that Roddick is a very nice guy….”. Have you read the posts. One poster became so carried away that he said Roddick is abusing the poor, innocent lines-woman, *forever*. Talk about sensationalism, WOW. I suppose that *forever* will continue until the world ends.

On the change of on-court personality, well, they all do it. Maybe Roddick does it a bit more, but he doesn’t have the luxury of venting by using a foreign language. Those ESL players, get away with this big time. One poster mentioned Djokovic curses in Serbian on the court. However, she thinks Djokovic is classy, but roddick is a JERK. I happen to find that confusing. Now if Roddick were to curse out aloud, all would understand what he’s saying, as he’s speaking English. Therefore, is Andy any worse than the players who use their mother tongue to curse at everyone? They are not demonized, because people don’t understand what they’re saying, which is a bit unfair, don’t you think? I personally don’t think enough attention is paid to the ESL players. Look at David Ferrer’s behaviour. I think those who vent in another language are cowards for so doing. If you have a bone of contention, then don’t hide behind the smoke screen of a foreign language — speak for all to hear. To me that’s gutless, but then again, others will disagree.

Anyway, Peter, thanks for taking the time to clarify what Ben said about the call, and your thoughts on the whole matter.

I can truthfully say, I’m drained from reading all this ugly stuff and wish Roddick didn’t play last night, retired, or didn’t play in this year’s USO.